WATCH: Paralyzed Officer Escorted By Patriot Guard To His Donated Smart Home

Sometimes, in the course of becoming what we want to be, we become who we’re truly meant to be. So it is with actor and producer Gary Sinise, a hero to veterans and law enforcement organizations across the country.

One of his projects, The Gary Sinise Foundation‘s RISE program, restores to severely wounded veterans and first responders a small slice of the freedom they gave so much to protect.

Michael Flamion, a Ballwin, Missouri, police officer shot and paralyzed in the line of duty in July 2016, is soon to be a recipient of the foundation’s commitment. On Tuesday, he received a special escort to the groundbreaking of what will be his new “smart home.”

Escorting Flamion and his family were the Patriot Guard, an all-volunteer group that mostly provides escort services and crowd control at memorial services for fallen heroes, first responders and honorably discharged veterans.

Flamion’s new “smart home,” controlled via cell phone, will provide him the independence of being able to control many simple household tasks that most of us take for granted, including controlling heating and cooling and opening and closing window blinds.

“This home will have complete lighting control. He doesn’t have to be in room to turn lights on and off. He can get on his phone. It’s voice activation, ask to turn off lights in his home,” said Scott Schaeperkoetter, director of operations for the RISE program, according to KTVI.

RISE stands for Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment, according to the Sinise foundation’s website. Its goal is to help “our wounded heroes increase their mobility and reclaim their self-reliance” by “providing specially adapted smart homes, home modifications, mobility devices and adapted vehicles to America’s most severely wounded heroes & their families.”

The foundation has built homes for military members, but this will be the first “smart home” built by the foundation for a law enforcement officer.

Sinise, who played the iconic “Lt. Dan” character in Tom Hanks’ “Forrest Gump,” is himself a hero to veterans everywhere. His support for commitment to veterans’ organizations has earned him some of our nation’s highest honors given to civilians, including the U.S. Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Award.

Flamion, a true public servant, simply said, “I wish I could go back to work,” according to KMOV News.

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